Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Recently, a comment was made that the blog hasn’t had a FOOL story in a long time. How about a Utah stripper story?

Utah has a long history of wierd liquor laws. During the early 1970’s the action was mainly in “private” clubs.

One bright afternoon my procrastination in replacing a car battery caught up with me. The Mustang died but I was able to roll into a parking lot a few miles from home. Looking for a pay phone, I entered a private club.

Transitioning from harsh sunlight to a dim bar, my eyes took time to adjust. Standing just inside the entrance, nearly blind, I could vaguely seen a light colored form moving around in front of me. When the eyes finally focused, I was staring at a naked woman doing a dance. This wasn’t the first naked woman I had ever seen, but: Utah, afternoon, mind focused on finding a phone, it was a shock.

I assume my expression was the reason she, and most of her spectators, were laughing and making crude remarks (think “turnip truck” was mentioned).

While they were having their fun I found a pay phone and called the wife. After discussing which vehicle to bring and my location, she wanted to know where I was calling from, what was the background noise? My totally honest answer, in a bar watching a stripper, wasn’t well received.

In years past, many towns and cities were heated and lit by “coal gas” or “water gas”. Each municipality had a plant to convert coal to gas. Once natural gas became available at a lower cost, this technology was abandoned.

In 1925 two European scientists, Fischer and Tropsch, came up with a process to convert coat into liquid fuel suitable for internal combustion engines. By 1941, Germany had commercial plants up and running. By the end of WWII, a large part of their military vehicles and aircraft were operating on synthetic fuels.

South Africa, responding to years of international embargoes, used this technology to provide about 50% of their energy needs. Today, they lead the world in this technology. Not only coal, but natural gas, is turned into liquid fuels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasol

Looking at our own Department of Energy websites, you can find they are looking into it in an uncoordinated manner. No focus that I can see.

What I am unable to find is how much water is required for these processes. We have huge coal deposits. Most are in arid regions where “whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting”.

The benefits of developing our resources are many. One, stop funding the Islamists. We are giving them the rope to strangle ourselves. Two, free up these energy sources for the rest of the world. Hungry bellies fuel wars. Prosperity encourages peace.

Obstacles to developing our resources are not technology but social. How many “greens” are from the lowest economic strata? They come from affluence and are well schooled in pushing their agenda.

Time the rest of us pushed back and take back our destiny. Easy to say. Someone smarter than me needs to figure out how.

A quote from another source.

America's corporate, political, media, academic and other leaders aren't. They're not leaders — because they refuse to stand tall, be bold, offer vision, inspire and ... well, lead. We've got too many 5-watt bulbs sitting in 100-watt sockets. They're squishing the historic can-do spirit of the American people, reducing it to a dispiriting ethic of surrender that says we-shouldn't-even-try.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/16-7

From Jim Hightower. A progressive? Possibly. A man with a grasp of the real world? Most assuredly.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Driving South on Utah I-15 from I-70, the speed limit has been raised to 80 mph in places. Why not? Cars are much safer now.

Bet this knots the knickers of the nanny crowd who “know what’s best for us” and have forced car manufacturers to incorporate many features in cars few people want. Unintended consequences?

In 1990, it took 31 weeks of the median US income to buy the average priced new car. In 2008-2009, it took 39 weeks of the median US income to buy the average priced new car. In dollars, about $6,000 before adjusting to constant dollars (and I’m not willing to make the effort).

The same crowd pushing the “safety” agenda are natural allies with the greenhouse gas gang and fellow travelers. Their mindset is slower, not faster, speeds.

Bravo to the Utah folks who are giving their citizens what THEY want, and a stick in the eye to the intellectual “elite”.

On a more pleasant note, sunrise in the Rockies is a treat to the eyes and spirit.

Just how stupid do you need to be? Turn off a paved road onto a dirt road. Encounter snow, then more snow. Continue on in two wheel drive.

Reminds me of a story many years ago in LOOK magazine. Man, wife and daughter, flying in mountains in winter, crashed their single engine airplane. Father decided to walk out for help. He was never found. Mother and daughter kept a diary. When the wreckage was located, the diary was recovered. They wrote the diary on the pages of an Airman's Information Manual directly over the section giving information on what to do if you crash.

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About Me

Semi retired road warrior, car salesman, occasional repo man. Father of three fine sons. Once a Blue Dog Democrat. Once a soldier; once a pilot. Rolling along life's highway proving there is no fool like an old fool.